"I will no longer be able to protect you, as we had promised we would, because you have left us far too early," he said. "But I will continue to serve and protect our family. Every morning, I will put on your bulletproof vest, your belt, your boots and your cap to look after our family.

"I have always spoken about you with so much passion and pride and I will continue to do that until it is time for my number to be retired. When that day comes, you better come and greet me and we will be able to write the second chapter of our life.

"I only have one request: send me a sign from time to time, a little gesture, anything, just to tell me, 'I'm there, brother."'

With files from Donald McKenzie in Montreal

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Photos

Joannie Vaillancourt, left, wife of Lac-Simon police officer Thierry LeRoux, and LeRoux's father Michel LeRoux follow the casket at the end of the funeral service for police officer Thierry LeRoux, in Saguenay, Que., Friday, Feb. 26, 2016. (Jacques Boissinot / THE CANADIAN PRESS)